GBP/USD Pair

Forex Pros – Last week saw the New Zealand dollar jump to two-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Friday, after the country’s government outlined a budget projecting a return to surplus in four years.NZD/USD hit 0.7997 on Friday, the pair's highest since May 3; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7955 by close of trade, jumping 1.35% over the week. The pair was likely to find short-term support at 0.7860, Thursday’s low and resistance at 0.8064, the high of May 3. New Zealand’s government on Thursday unveiled a budget that targeted a narrower deficit for the next fiscal year through deep spending cuts, setting it on course for an operating surplus of NZD1.3 billion by the year ending June 2015.Finance Minister Bill English said the government would save NZD5.2 billion over four years to spend on health, education and rebuilding from two earthquakes in Christchurch.Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, which has New Zealand’s AA+ sovereign rating on negative outlook, suggested...

Forex Pros – Last week saw the Australian dollar advance against its U.S. counterpart for the first time in three weeks, after the Reserve Bank of Australia said that higher interest rates may be required to contain inflation.AUD/USD hit 1.0710 on Friday, the pair’s highest since May 13; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0657 by close of trade, climbing 0.75% over the week. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0594, Thursday’s low and resistance at 1.0888, the high of May 11.The Aussie rose sharply on Tuesday after the minutes of the most recent RBA policy meeting revealed that, “higher interest rates were likely to be required at some point if inflation was to remain consistent with the medium-term target.” Meanwhile, data on Thursday showing a slowdown in manufacturing growth in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region and an unexpected dip in existing home sales in April underlined the view that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to tighten policy for some...

Forex Pros – The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart in choppy trade last week, extending its longest losing streak since November as crude oil, Canada’s largest export, traded close to a three-month low.USD/CAD hit 0.9653 on Thursday, the pair’s lowest since May 13; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9738 by close of trade on Friday, gaining 0.53% over the week.The pair is likely to find support at 0.9603, the low of May 13 and short-term resistance at 0.9739, Tuesday’s high and a six-week high.Crude oil futures for June delivery slipped 0.2% last week to USD99.49 a barrel in New York after dropping as low as USD95.02 on Tuesday. Raw materials including oil account for about half of Canada’s export revenue.Data on Friday showing that Canadian inflation was weaker-than-expected last month and retail sales were flat in March dampened expectations for a rate increase by the Bank of Canada this month.Statistics Canada said consumer prices rose 3.3% in April...

Forex Pros – Crude oil prices edged higher for a second consecutive week in volatile trade last week as buyers re-entered the market on short-covering ahead of June’s contract expiration and as concerns over a slowdown in U.S. demand eased. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD99.94 a barrel by close of trade on Friday, gaining 1.4% on the week.Meanwhile, the June contract expired at the end of trading on Friday, settling at USD99.49 a barrel. Crude prices jumped 1% in volatile trade on Friday as a flurry of short-covering caused prices to rebound midday from early lows. Contract expiration often leads to volatile sessions as market participants look to close out positions or reposition their portfolios.Prices were also supported after the American Petroleum Institute reported that total U.S. crude oil and petroleum product consumption, a broad measure of demand, jumped 5.2% in April to 19.9 million barrels a day....

Forex Pros – The Swiss franc strengthened against the U.S. dollar last week as concerns over sovereign debt issues in the euro zone boosted safe have demand and weaker-than-expected data weighed on the dollar.USD/CHF hit 0.8746 on Friday, the pair’s lowest since May 10; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8771 by close of trade, tumbling 1.73% over the week.The pair is likely to find support at 0.8675, the low of May 6 and resistance at 0.8937, last Monday’s high.The Swiss franc rose against the dollar early in the week as lingering uncertainty over the possibility of debt restructuring in Greece dampened demand for riskier assets.The franc advanced further on Friday after ratings agency Fitch downgraded Greece's credit ratings by three notches and said a “soft” restructuring of the country’s debt by European Union policy makers would be considered a default.Meanwhile, data on Thursday showing a slowdown in manufacturing growth in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic region and an unexpected dip in existing...

Forex Pros – The U.S. dollar advanced to a three-week high against the yen last week before trimming gains after official data showed that Japan entered its third recession in a decade and Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he expects the central bank to maintain a flexible monetary policy. USD/JPY hit 82.23 on Thursday, the pair’s highest since April 28; the pair subsequently consolidated at 81.69 by close of trade on Friday, gaining 1.02% over the week.The pair is likely to find support at 80.72, the low of May 17 and short-term resistance at 82.23, Thursday’s high.Government data on Thursday showed that Japan’s gross domestic product contracted by an annualized 3.7% in the first quarter, following a 3% drop in the preceding quarter.The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged and held interest rates steady in a range of zero to 0.1% on Friday, as widely expected.The yen was also pressured by speculation about the potential for yen-selling related to...

Forex Pros – Last week saw gold prices climb to a one-week high on Friday, surpassing the USD1,500 an ounce mark, as simmering fears over the euro zone’s debt crisis boosted the safe haven appeal of the precious metal. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery settled at USD1,512.85 a troy ounce by close of trade on Friday, climbing 1.4% over the week .It earlier rose to USD1,516.85 a troy ounce, the highest price since May 13.Gold prices jumped 1.2% on Friday after ratings agency Fitch downgraded Greece's credit ratings by three notches and said a “soft” restructuring of the country’s debt by European Union policy makers would be considered a default.Also supporting gold prices were concerns that potential new regional governments in Spain would disclose more debt problems and change the political landscape in the key euro zone periphery country. Spaniards go to the polls this weekend, with the ruling Socialist...

Forex Pros – Concerns over euro zone sovereign debt issues saw the euro fall sharply against the U.S. dollar on Friday, trimming the week’s gains after ratings agency Fitch downgraded Greece's credit ratings by three notches.The single currency was already under pressure as fears that debt contagion would spread to Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, pushed up the country’s borrowing costs.The euro found support late Friday after the International Monetary Fund approved a EUR26 billion three-year loan to Portugal, as part of a bailout granted last year.Elsewhere, the dollar edged higher against the yen last week as Japan slid into its third recession in a decade and Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he expects the central bank to maintain a flexible monetary policy. Government data on Thursday showed that Japan’s gross domestic product contracted an annualized 3.7% in the first quarter, following a 3% drop in the preceding quarter.The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged and held...

The Trend Trader for ForexFor Trading On Monday, May 23, 2011 THE BIG SIX Close %Change 3x1 7x5 MinorTrend MajorTrend Trend Reading AUDUSD - Aust Dollar / US Dollar 1.0663 − 0.04 1.0643 1.0626 Bullish EURUSD - Euro / US Dollar 1.4156 − 1.08 1.4245 1.4183 Bearish GBPUSD - British Pound / US Dollar 1.6232 − 0.02 1.6208 1.6214 Bullish USDCAD - US Dollar / Canadian Dollar 0.9735 + 0.62 0.9705 0.9723 Bullish USDCHF - US Dollar / Swiss Franc 0.8769 − 0.40 0.8806 0.8818 Bearish USDJPY - US Dollar / Japanese Yen 81.681 + 0.09 81.625 81.512 Bullish ALL OTHERS AUDCAD - Aust Dollar / Canadian Dollar 1.0376 + 0.54 1.0330 1.0332 Bullish AUDCHF - Aust Dollar / Swiss Franc 0.9348 − 0.46 0.9369 0.9365 Bearish AUDJPY - Aust Dollar / Japanese Yen 87.104 + 0.06 86.847 86.523 Bullish AUDNZD - Aust Dollar / New Zealand $ 1.3391 − 0.67 1.3458 1.3451 Bearish CADCHF - Canadian Dollar / Swiss Franc 0.9002 − 1.04 0.9069 0.9068 Bearish CADJPY - Canadian Dollar / Japanese Yen 83.886 − 0.52 84.119 83.846 Neutral CHFJPY - Swiss Franc / Japanese Yen 93.094 + 0.47 92.683 92.207 Bullish EURAUD - Euro / Australian Dollar 1.3272 − 1.04 1.3383 1.3328 Bearish EURCAD - Euro / Canadian Dollar 1.3781 − 0.48 1.3815 1.3766 Neutral EURCHF - Euro / Swiss Franc 1.2422 − 1.42 1.2544 1.2490 Bearish EURDKK - Euro / Danish Krone 7.4564 − 0.02 7.4572 7.4564 Neutral EURGBP - Euro / British Pound 0.8720 − 1.06 0.8791 0.8747 Bearish ...

Forex Pros – The British Pound was lower against the U.S. Dollar on Friday. GBP/USD was trading at 1.6231, down 0.03% at time of writing. The pair was likely to find support at 1.6107, Wednesday’s low, and resistance at 1.6304, today’s high. Meanwhile, the British Pound was up against the Euro and the Japanese Yen, with EUR/GBP shedding 1.05% to hit 0.8722 and GBP/JPY rising 0.09% to hit 132.62.